Dear fellow human, young or old, inside or outside education, we need your help.
During the most recent election campaigns, education was a hot topic. At last. It had been a while since this sector made the news every day. Other themes usually take priority and are supposedly more newsworthy. But is that really true? Could schools, and the developments taking place in them, be given more space in the media? After all, our children spend a large part of their time there, and what they experience there has a considerable impact on the rest of their lives. That is why I find it a pity that education is an underestimated and insufficiently supported sector. We should do everything we can to help schools succeed and keep pace with the latest developments. By that I don't only mean technological or digital developments, but also the changes in the learning needs and the awareness of our children and young people. When are we going to give them a real answer?
The problems schools are struggling with are no small matter. Yet I can't shake the impression that they are not new, but that they come back year after year. When I look back from my somewhat advanced age to my early years in education, I was already hearing the same complaints. Complaining is something we're good at. But does it bring satisfying results? What if we focused on solutions, on perspectives that bring a breath of fresh air and on creations that open up paths we can hardly imagine today? What if we valued education for what it has brought forth and, at the same time, reinvented it?
I believe we could then create schools that meet our wildest expectations, that implement forms of education that bring out potential quite naturally, that our pupils are happy to go to and where teachers take on a new role. For years now, I have been doing my bit through training courses that offer a different view of education. But I am not alone. My work alone is not enough. We need other pioneers with whom we can form a broad partnership.
I am sure that in Flanders and the Netherlands there are many educational visionaries whose ideas are already being put into practice in a school, or who are looking for a platform to make their ideas known. It is my great dream to bring these visionaries together and to find out what contributions we can make TOGETHER towards the education we are longing for. If we have to wait for political decisions, we will be waiting a long time. Hence this initiative.
SO THIS IS A CALL! I NEED YOUR HELP!
I will share my request through as many social media channels as possible to get as many responses as possible, from both Flanders and the Netherlands. Your help in spreading my call through your network would be most welcome.
What I am not looking for is a list of everything that is going wrong. What I am looking for are concrete, creative, out-of-the-box ideas to lift education to the next level. Will you join in?
Question: SCHOOLS AT THE TOP
- Which schools are implementing a completely new way of working, concept, collaboration, etc.? Completely new means not a variation on familiar perspectives and ways of working.
- What solutions do you propose at the level of policy, the school, the teachers, the subjects, the courses of study, pupil participation, teaching methods, school organisation, etc.? Solutions that are not in line with what already exists.
- What are you already doing in concrete terms?
- How do you see your concept developing further?
- How does it differ from the way we currently approach school and learning?
- What does ideal education look like?
- What would the design of your ideal school be?
- How can children and young people be truly happy at school?
- How can we start learning differently?
- Where will we be in twenty years' time?
- What new subjects are needed?
- Any completely different ideas….
Does this speak to you? Then share your vision.
If you know someone with exceptional ideas, let them know about my request.
Don't forget to add your contact details.
Depending on the number of responses, we will set up a platform that can give a broad impulse to the educational landscape. I am hoping for thousands of responses. Will you join in?
Thank you so much in advance.
Hilde Van Bulck*, who has a big heart for education. And has had all her life.
- Spent twenty-five years in education as a teacher, coordinator, head teacher, among other roles.
- Has been giving training courses for years from a vision of presence, love and energetic awareness.
- Supports educational themes through educational constellations.
